Padres can’t fix what ails Dodgers

Normally a series against the Padres can solve whatever ailment a Dodger team is feeling, but this weekend in Mexico, the Padres refused to be the antidote to the Dodgers injury bug.

Winning the last two games against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers won the first game of the Padre series and had taken three games off the Diamondback lead. That was the highlight.

They lost Saturday even though they knocked the Padre starter out of the game in 3rd inning. Kenta was okay but Fields, and Hudson gave up four runs in relief.

On Sunday Dodger fans learned that Clayton Kershaw was headed to the disabled list for the third year in a row. They took that news and bowed their bats to rookie Eric Lauer who along with three other Padre pitchers shut out the Dodgers. Brad Hand finished the series by striking out the Dodgers in the 9th inning. He had done the same thing on Saturday night.

Some takeaways:

Kenley Jansen did not pitch in any of the three games and Brad Hand reminded Dodger fans what Jansen used to do when pitching the ninth inning.

Franchy Cordero is fun to watch.

The Dodgers are now closer to last place than first place as they gave up another game to the Diamondbacks and now trail them by eight games as they get ready to play them two games at home.

It is starting to seem doubtful that Clayton Kershaw will opt out of his contract given three straight DL stints in three years. This is just bicep tendonitis, but the Dodgers are going to pay him $70 million in 2019/2020. Does he really walk away from that in hopes of a bigger payday given he can’t even pitch 200 innings a year anymore? Would anyone give him $30 Million per year in his thirties for 180 innings of baseball? I don’t think so.

Walker Buehler has looked electric, it is just to bad he is now replacing Ryu instead of Rich Hill.

Kenley Jansen got two saves in back to back games last week and didn’t strike out anyone in either save. I wonder when the last time that happened for any Dodger closer. I hope it never happens again this year.

I think in retrospect we can say the Dodgers should have traded for Brian Dozier instead of Logan Forsythe and that the Twins were very smart for not trading Dozier for Jose De Leon.

With all the injuries the Dodgers have had, they will still have a plethora of major league capable outfield options when Puig comes off the DL this week. Puig/Joc/Kemp and Puig/Hernandez/Verdugo. Does Verdugo stay? Joc picked a great time to get hot. Once again, Toles picked a bad time to be hurt.

Seems like a perfect time to move Matt Kemp if they can but the only contending team with a hole at DH are the defending World Champions. Evan Gattis has been horrible. Kendry Morales has also been horrible for the Blue Jays, but you can easily see a scenario where Donaldson is moved to DH because of his shoulder issues and they bring up Vlady Junior to play 3rd base.

I’ve never seen a prospect with as much swag as Alex Verdugo. By swag I mean the pads everywhere, the batting gloves (what are those, mittens), the lobster running glove, and of course the chain. Verdugo had a great week, showing off most of his skills, I heard alot of folk loving on him. Eric Byrnes of MLB Network is in love with him. Me, not so much. This hasn’t happened in a long time where I’ve seen a Dodger prospect who I just don’t like. I’m trying to figure it out, but have been unable to put my finger on it.

Has anyone asked the question that with these elongated running gloves, if they touch the base before a force or tag play are they considered an extension of the hand? That seems unfair to me given they are longer than your fingers or do the fingers go right upto the end of the lobster glove?

Oh, and here is the lastest Dodger DL list:

Name Last Updated Injury Type Injury Details
Logan Forsythe May 01 2018 Shoulder Forsythe has been designated for the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation and is not expected to return before the middle of May.
Rich Hill May 06 2018 Finger Hill has landed on the 10-day disabled list due to a crack on the fingernail on his left middle finger. He is expected to be activated in time for Tuesdays game against the Diamondbacks.
Clayton Kershaw May 06 2018 Bicep Kershaw has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to left biceps tendinitis and there is currently no timetable for his recovery.
Tom Koehler April 30 2018 Shoulder Koehler has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list after he suffered a mild anterior capsule strain in his right shoulder. He is likely to be sidelined until sometime after the All-Star break.
Yasiel Puig May 06 2018 Hip Puig has been designated for the 10-day disabled list due to a left hip pointer and a left foot contusion. He is likely to be activated in time for Wednesdays game against the Diamondbacks.
Hyun-Jin Ryu May 03 2018 Groin Ryu is on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain and will likely be out of action until the end of July.
Corey Seager May 06 2018 Elbow Seager is on the 10-day disabled list after undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair a right UCL sprain.
Justin Turner March 30 2018 Wrist Turner has been designated for the 10-day disabled list due to a non-displaced fracture of his left wrist and is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks of action.
Julio Urias February 23 2018 Shoulder Urias is recuperating from a surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his left shoulder and is on the 60-day disabled list. He is not expected to be available until the second half of the 2018 season.
Alex Wood May 06 2018 Hamstring Wood is battling hamstring cramps and it is unknown when he will make his next start.

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2 Comments

68elcamino427

May 7, 2018 – 4:55 pm

Got this from someone who knows.
The Twins wanted Bellinger.
Bellinger or Dozier, who do you prefer?

Something is up with Jansen, exactly what we do not know.
He was humping the ball up to the plate touching 97 mph in his last outing, but had no clue as to where the ball might wind up. I’m going with a shoulder issue,
a Brad Penny type set up. I hope that this is incorrect.

Only 3 teams in the NL have a worse winning percentage than the Dodgers this morning.

Kershaw has gone from the lower back to the shoulder?

Kershaw missed some time with the shoulder in 2014. I had forgotten about this until I was reading Bill Plunkett’s Dodger coverage in the OC Register this morning.
In the article Doc Roberts is also referenced pointing out that the bicep tendonitis is something that Kershaw has dealt with over time, but the discomfort got to be too much.
Not good.

Buehler is going to be fun to watch.
Screw the season IP limit!
Just avoid over-cooking him in any one game, like 90 pitches and thank you for your effort.

Wonder what is up with Toles? He last played on April 13th.
Hammy really?
When he is healthy Toles will take his place in line in front of Verdugo.

Verdugo has figured out that one does not “play” at playing professional baseball
while in proximity of Mr. Utley.
This explains that “Eddie Haskell” vibe when you see him.
Or, “Turning on the charm, just long enough to get you by”, as Mr. Seager noted.
Regarding the swag, continue to bear in mind, Verdugo feels it looks cool, even if all of his gear has me rubbing my eyes to make sure that I’m not seeing a rodeo clown on the base paths.
That being said, I do feel that Verdugo’s demeanor on the field is good in 2018.
He is just a big kid.
And Verdugo can hit. When he is Toles age,
Verdugo might have even more “pop” than Toles does now.

The OPEN sign is always left on in the window for all the other teams when it comes to any hint of moving Kemp.

Turner will be back soon.

Forsythe will be back which will be ok if he can remember how to hit LHP.

Puig will be back, maybe he got his hitting eyes fixed?

Wood is gonna make his next start, take his next turn, according to Punkett.

Hill is gonna start a game.
Has this been some kind of stunt to limit his innings or hide another problem?
Probably not.
“The Absent Minded Professor” … Hill has the character Professor Ned Brainard played by Fred MacMurry in this film down to a “t”.
My other fav for Hill is “The High School science teacher who just wants to get away”,
what a character this guy is!

Yeah, no way I’d done that deal. I can just remember people making fun of the Twins for not taking the Dodger offer which was supposed to be De Leon. I might have been one of them because I didn’t think the Twins were going to compete in 2017. I was wrong, but hey if they drop out of 2018 maybe Dozier will be back on the table since he walks at the end of this year? They are only 13 – 17 but then again we are only 15 – 19.